The wars were in the future — but they weren't very far off. When the Soviets invaded less than two decades later, it would hasten Afghanistan's path towards becoming a very different country.

A call from Helmand on February 29, 2020, underscored the shock and uncertainty felt in Afghanistan over the deal.

Testimony by CFR fellows and experts before Congress ... For most of the Cold War a nonaligned, isolated Afghanistan helped stabilize the region. The Soviet invasion and the response it provoked ...

Discovered against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War, the Tillya Tepe treasure ... In 1978, a year before the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Russian archaeologist Viktor Ivanovich ...